1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatus for determining where cable failures occur, and more particularly to portable apparatus that can be used in the field for determining where cable failures occur.
2. Prior Art
With the high cost of copper wiring and other metals used in electrical transmission cable various industries, such as, the electrical utilities, telephone, cable television, etc. are faced with high maintenance costs. Part of this problem results in the present inefficient methods and apparatus used to determine in the field where their cable failures occur.
The most common practice today to determine where a cable failure occurs is for the workmen to use an ohmmeter to try to determine areas of non-continuity in the conductivity of the cable. The cable is then cut in between the two points checked and the wire segments then re-checked. Upon determining which segment has the failure, it is removed and replaced. Many times the segment removed might be a hundred feet long although the cable failure might be occurring in less than a foot of the cable. This results in a larger waste of expensive cable.